destinationCRM Dashboard: May 2008

Essential Strategies to Improve Customer Experience
LAS VEGAS -- The contact center is becoming an increasingly important facet in the arsenal of any company aiming to deliver not only high-quality service to demanding customers, but a profit center for its own operations. Gauging the challenges and opportunities hidden within the contact center were the main points of emphasis at a presentation held at SAP CRM 2008. The simple notion at the core of the session may not, at first, seem like a contact center--specific theme: The classic ways of advertising for business are slowly dying. But the ramifications of that reality change the rules of the game.

Oracle Finally Says "See Ya" to "Siebel" for On Demand CRM
Oracle's newest edition of its on-demand CRM application -- On Demand Release 15 -- reflects the latest trends: innovations in how users access their CRM solutions -- via hosted models, Web browsers, and semi-connected application functionality -- and CRM that embeds the latest in social networking. "Oracle is making the concept of Enterprise 2.0 tangible by tying social networking and collaboration directly into [its] CRM offering," explains Mary Wardley, vice president of CRM applications for research firm IDC. Release 15, it's worth noting, also marks Oracle's removal of the "Siebel" brand from its on-demand offerings, limiting the use of that name to the Siebel 8.x on-premise product line.

The Future of ECM Is Simplicity 
BOSTON -- The notion of simplicity was bandied about quite often during the 2008 conference hosted by AIIM-The Enterprise Content Management Association -- especially during the event's keynote, which stressed one factor above all others: The implementation of simplicity is key to user adoption.